Battle of Ocracoke Inlet

The Battle of Ocracoke Inlet (22 November 1718) was a battle fought between the pirate crews of Blackbeard's Adventure and Edward Kenway's Jackdaw and a force of 2 Royal Navy sloops and 57 Royal Marines that occurred off Ocracoke, North Carolina. Blackbeard had headed north from the Caribbean to accept the King's pardon and to retire, but he would return to piracy, leading to Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood dispatching Lieutenant Robert Maynard with 57 troops from two sloops to take him down. David Jenkins, a Royal Navy sailor who had infiltrated Blackbeard's crew, warned Lieutenant Maynard about Blackbeard's presence on Ocracoke, where he was holding a large party to celebrate his future retirement. Maynard and Jenkins fired a signal that led to the British ships firing mortars at the pirates, and the pirates rushed to their vessels. Blackbeard and his friend Edward Kenway, sailing aboard the Jackdaw, engaged the British man o' war HMS Odin while attempting to escape, and they nearly took over the ship. However, Blackbeard was overwhelmed by British soldiers and was killed, and a British brute pushed Kenway off of the ship. Kenway swam back to the Jackdaw and fled south as the fearsome British ships destroyed the other pirate ships at Ocracoke, putting an end to Blackbeard and almost all of his friends.